Image Credit: Cesar Blanco Gonzalez

Take a second to marvel at this picture…

OK, this is IC 5067, a rather dull name for such a dynamic object; it’s part of the much larger nebula known as the Pelican Nebula.

The image was taken by Cesar Gonzalez and is false colored using Hubble’s color palette. The ridge in the image stretches approximately 10 light years and comprises the pelican’s head and neck region. Because this is a star forming region, you can find little dark cocoons of dust and gas shielding the galaxy’s newest solar systems from view. The image itself is about one-half degree across, which is about the same size as the Full Moon.

The Pelican Nebula is located some 2,000 light years away and located to the northeast of Deneb in the constellation Cygnus.


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